


Humans, Ghouls, and Things In Between

by hawaiianrainbow



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 01:11:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6731749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawaiianrainbow/pseuds/hawaiianrainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU of how Juuzou suzuya and Eto yoshimura fell in love and what havoc it caused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Zoo Day

Sen whistled as she strolled through the Tokyo Zoo. As a well known author, it had become difficult to write in coffee shops or things of the like without drawing attention. The Zoo was a place where she could find a shady bench, sit down, and write for the afternoon.

She smiled and looked up at the sky. It was a perfect day for being outside; the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. 

Sen loved to write, and she was happy that she had been able to make a living out of it. It was much more then just a hobby for the twenty-four year old girl; it was an escape. It was an escape from the truth: that she was not really Sen Takatsuki, an author, but Eto Yoshimura, a human ghoul hybrid known better as the infamous one eyed owl. She didn’t chose to be born like that, but that’s what it was. She was half ghoul half human, and she preyed upon and ate humans. And that was that. Now, it’s not like she didn’t like humans. They could be fascinating , they could be kind. But they were food, and there was no getting past that. 

She shuttered as she remembered the events of last week, when CCG had taken out the coffee shop Anteiku that was home to several peaceful ghouls. Her own father had died that night. She had killed an investigator by the name of Shinohara, and his scrawny partner had gone into flurry of rage, chucking knives at her kagune. She shook her head, pushing away the memories. She had done what needed to be done. So today she would enjoy herself and be Sen. Not the half breed Eto, but the author Sen.

Sen stopped and realized she had been so consumed in thought, that she had walked right by her favorite spot; a bench in front of the giraffes.

She smiled as she skipped back in that direction, thinking of the new baby giraffe. Patchi was the name. Sen loved that name for a little giraffe.

She came to a halt when she realized someone was sitting in her favorite spot. It was a young man; maybe 16 or 17. He was sketching on a large drawing board using crayons. He was wearing a a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and turquoise suspenders. He had on loose black pants that were rolled up to his knees, and he kicked his bare feet back and forth as he worked, a pair of red slippers sitting on the ground. His white hair came down to his shoulders. 

Sen chuckled at his dorky yet cute outfit, but her stomach dropped when she saw his right arm. It had an interesting swirl pattern stitched on it, using red thread. She knew that pattern. Images of the shy man she had interviewed came flooding back to her; him and his much older partner, Shinohara. She remembered the fiery rage and pain burning in his red eyes after she had killed his partner. Sen did not know this young man’s name.

He glanced up from his art, and his red eyes darted in Sen’s direction, and then back to his drawing.

She realized that she had been staring at him. Her face flushed, and then she noticed something on his arms and legs. Bruises. Large bruises. Sen remembered throwing him against concrete, and her stomach twisted with guilt. She turned to walk away, but then she remembered what she had told herself earlier. Today she was Sen, not Eto. Sen had not thrown this person, Eto had. Sen had no idea where he had gotten those bruises. Sen was the outgoing author who had interviewed the two CCG investigators. She had never got his name for her interview. Sen needed to do that. And offer her condolences on the death of his partner. Wait, no. Sen didn’t know his partner was dead. Sen was just going to start a friendly chat and get the cute investigator’s name for her notes.

Sen skipped over to the pale man, her teal hair flying out in every which direction in the light breeze.

“Hey!” she said cheerfully.

He said nothing; he didn’t even acknowledge her presence.

“Don’t I know you?”

He put down a red crayon and looked up Sen. She looked into his red eyes, and she couldn’t help but wonder what they had seen. She found the unique stitches under his right eye and right bottom corner of his lips intriguing. He still said nothing.

“I’m Sen Takatsuki, remember?” she said, any hope of having a conversation with this strangely attractive man fading. “I interviewed you and your partner for my next book. I never got your name though. Mind if I have it so I can give you credit for the helpful information?”

Still nothing. He picked up a blue crayon and began to color. Sen signed and plopped down next to him, pulling out a pen and her notebook. She began to write about the physical characteristics about her main character when the young investigator spoke.

“Juuzou Suzuya,” the man said, not stopping his coloring.

“What?” Sen said, pausing her writing.

“My name. It’s Juuzou Suzuya.”

“Oh, thank you!” Sen said gleefully, scribbling his name down. “And your partner. I seem to have misplaced the paper with his name. What is it again?”

“Yukinori Shinohara,” Juuzou muttered.

“Thanks! How’s he doing?” Sen asked. Her stomach wrenched as she asked the question. She knew how his partner was doing. No. She told herself. Eto knows that he’s dead. Sen doesn’t.

“He died about a week ago,” the investigator said sharply.

“Oh my!” Sen exclaimed with false surprise. “That’s terrible! What happened?”

“CCG vs Aogiri in the 20th ward,” he said, still not looking away from his scribbly, childlike, yet appealing art.

“I’m so sorry,” Sen said, with a sincerity behind the words that lurked behind what was simply said. She touched his hand in sympathy, but he pulled away.

The only sounds for awhile were the scratch of Sen’s pen on her paper, the scribbling of Juuzou’s crayons, the crunch of the leaves the giraffes were eating, and the sounds of nearby downtown Tokyo. 

Juuzou started coloring vigorously with a green crayon, and the wax snapped. He just stared at the piece of broken crayon that had fallen onto the concrete.

Sen looked at the blank expression on his face, and then leaned down and picked up the broken piece. She handed it to him and smiled. His face flushed and he snatched the crayon, and then jerked his head away and began to watch the giraffes eat.

“What are you drawing?” Sen asked, peering at his artwork. It was messy, and she couldn’t quite tell what it was.

“The giraffes,” he said quietly.

Sen examined the picture. “What’s all that red stuff?” she asked, pointing giant red scribbles all over the paper.

“Blood,” Juuzou said simply.

“Oh,” Sen replied, unsure of how to respond to his drawing of bloody giraffes. “So do you like working for CCG?”

He only shrugged, adjusted one of the red bobby pins in his hair, and continued coloring.

“What type of investigator are you?”

“Kind of a special missions thing,” he said softly.

“Wow, that must have taken a lot of training, especially for your age! What are you, seventeen? Eighteen?”

“Nineteen.”

Sen was surprised, he looked younger then nineteen, but she could sort of see it.

The two sat together for another hour or so, and soon dusk was approaching.

“Well, I have to go!” Sen said, smiling and getting up from the bench. She stretched her back and yawned.

“I should go too,” Juuzou said quietly, collecting his crayons and standing up.

“Did you finish your drawing?” Sen asked.

He nodded.

“May I see?”  
He turned around his drawing board so that Sen could see. She thought the drawing was actually very good, especially for being done with cheap crayons. 

“I love it!” she exclaimed. “It’s very abstract, and it catches the eye. You’re very talented.”

Juuzou bit his lip and looked away.

“Do you ever sign your work?”

He shrugged and began to rock on his bare feet.

“You should! I bet you could make some good money for that.”

He just stared at her, and then put on his slippers. Sen walked with him to the gate and they exited the zoo together. 

“My place is that way,” Sen said, pointing in the direction of her small apartment. 

“Mine’s the other way,” Juuzou said. 

“Oh,” Sen said, heart sinking a little. “Well I’ll see you around then I guess.”

“I usually come here on weekends, Mondays, and Wednesdays,” he said softly. “Bye Sen.”

He then turned and walked away. Sen stood in one place and watched him go. Was he inviting her to spend time with him? He sure is confusing, Sen thought. She turned and began the walk back to her apartment.

She arrived just as it was getting dark. Sen walked grabbed some things from her closet and then walked into her bathroom. She stared herself in the mirror for a little bit, then sighed and began to undress. She pulled off her dark green overalls and yellow turtleneck, then took off her undergarments. She grabbed the bandages from where they were sitting on the sink and began to wrap herself, from head to toe. When not an inch of skin was showing, she pulled on a magenta dress with a hood. She pulled on the hood, and then wrapped a pink, flowery scarf around her neck.

She let out a long sigh, once again standing in the mirror. She had had her fun as Sen for the the day. It was time to be Eto, the one eyed owl- the ghoul.

Not to far away, a young CCG investigator was laying in bed. He stared at the ceiling, many thoughts swirling through his head. Juuzou held up his hand so that the moonlight that beamed through the window could illuminate the stitched designs on his hand.

Why did that author girl talk to me, he wondered.

She had called him talented. At art. The only thing he had ever been called “talented” at was killing. That was good for his profession, but he wished to be able to do more.

His thoughts kept going back to Shinohara. He missed his partner. As much as he pushed it away, he couldn’t help but feel that he was kind of the father that he had never had. However, Juuzou decided that was to deep of thinking for himself. He wasn’t going to let himself feel any emotion. He shouldn’t care. It was just death. Nobody cared. Nobody cared about him, so he wouldn’t care about them.

The pretty author was different to Juuzou. There was something about her that he liked. He laid in his bed, flustered on why he had enjoyed his visit to the zoo so much today. He especially shouldn’t have enjoyed it because Shinohara had just died. But he shouldn’t be sad, because “it’s only death” he told himself again. He groaned and rolled over. It was all to confusing. 

Maybe he had enjoyed today because an attractive girl had gone out of her way to speak to him. Nobody ever spoke to him unless necessary, and any girl showing interest in him had never really been something he worried about. But now he was getting older and he just wasn’t sure. To Juuzou Suzuya, having a girl was a distant fantasy, not a goal.


	2. CCG's second interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eto needs more info, and the knows the perfect person to ask.

Sen stared at the blank paper in front of her. She looked up at the giraffes and sighed. The wind whipped her hair around, and it kept getting in her face. Juuzou said he would be here on the weekends. Maybe he didn’t come because it looks like it’s going to rain, she thought, looking up at the sky that was darkening with storm clouds.

She sighed and closed her notebook. She didn’t feel like writing right now. Sen was tired from last night. Not much had been going on with Aogiri lately, and the doves had been laying low, but it was still her responsibility to supervise everything.

She leaned back on the bench and thought about her current mission. Her job was rather broad; to find out more of what the CCG knows. But how to do that, she wasn’t sure. Sen had interviewed them before, but the only thing that really came of it was her meeting a cute guy. Of course, that was nice and all, but it wasn’t the goal.

Maybe I could interview them again, Sen thought, twirling a stray strand of teal hair around her finger. She knew it was a long shot; she was very lucky to just get the first interview. But she knew there was a surplus of CCG employees that were fans of her books, and now she had an investigator acquaintance. Sen wasn’t really sure if her and Juuzou could really be considered ‘friends’.

Sen knew asking for another interview would be risky, but it was the only way she could currently think of to get the needed information. I will go tomorrow, she decided.

Juuzou stared at the bland, gray ceiling tiles of the CCG office above him. He spun round in round in his swivel chair, kicking his feet. He hated the office and all the little cubicles. As he spun, he threw pencils at the ceiling and tried to get them to stay.

“Five! Six!” he giggled as the pencils impaled themselves in the fiberglass above him.

“Would you stop acting like a child already and help out?” said a sharply dressed young man, slamming a thick stack of papers on Juuzou’s desk.

“Why would I do that?” Juuzou said, giving his new partner a dumb look.

The man clenched his teeth in anger, and Juuzou tried his best to contain his laughter. He didn’t like his new partner, but he was sure fun to annoy. The newbie’s name was Daichi Kiniko, and he was fresh out of the academy. Juuzou knew he must be smart because he had already been assigned as a special investigator at a whopping age of 23. He wore his light brown hair in the same style as the late Takizawa had, and he always wore business attire.

How boring, Juuzou thought. 

He had ice blue eyes and a nice smile, and was popular with the women in CCG. His face was usually lit up by a smile, but a mix between paperwork and dealing with Juuzou had pulled it into a frown. 

“You need to do the paperwork because that’s your job!” spat Kiniko, glaring at the younger man.

“But I don’t want to,” Juuzou said, pushing the papers away and going back to spinning in his chair.

“Now listen here you little-.”

“Suzuya! Kiniko!” interrupted CCG’s secretary, Asuka Tanaka, peering around the corner from a nearby cubicle.

“Yes?” Kiniko said, regaining his cool. Juuzou stood up from his chair and stretched his back.

“There’s someone here to talk to you two,” she said, giving the cluster of pencils bristling from the ceiling a quizzical look. “They want to ask a few questions.”

“An interview?” Kiniko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, something like that,” Tanaka replied. “Suzuya, I beleive you’ve interviewed with her before. Do you remember Sen Takatsuki, the novelist?”

Juuzou felt his heart skip a beat. He let out a fake groan of protest and flopped back into his swivel chair, confused on why her name had provoked such a reaction from himself.

“Come on,” Kiniko said, pulling on Juuzou’s arm.

Suzuya got up and stretched, and the two men followed Tanaka.

Sen was relaxing on a couch in the lobby like room of the CCG’s main building. She sat up straight and pulled out her notebook when she saw the two investigators.

Why did I feel like that when I heard her name, Juuzou wondered.

“That’s one hot author,” Kiniko whispered into Juuzou’s ear. At that, the younger man’s stomach twisted.

Kiniko and Juuzou sat down across from Sen, who had her pen ready.

“Hello!” she said cheerfully. “I was hoping I could ask you a few questions for my next book. My name is-.”

“You’re Sen Takatsuki, right?” asked Kiniko. “The famous writer?”

“Yup!”

“May I just say, you have exquisite talent and your writing style is excellent,” he said, flashing her his pearly white grin that had gotten him popular with the ladies at CCG.

“Thank you,” Sen blushed. Juuzou grit his teeth, and a tiny flame of anger began to burn inside of him.

“So what can I do to help out a beautiful young novelist as yourself?” Kiniko asked Sen.

Juuzou clenched his teeth even harder, and he could feel his heart beating faster. No, he told himself. Why is she making you feel like this? What do you think you’re doing? Juuzou struggled to suppress the growing flame inside.

“I just have some questions about how CCG works,” she smiled. Juuzou thought she had a perfect smile.

No, he told himself again.

“No problem,” Kiniko said, winking at her.

Now there was nothing Juuzou could do. The flame grew bigger and bigger, and soon it became a fire raging in his stomach. His neck and face grew hot, and his palms began to sweat. He tried to drone out the noise of everything, and just focused on Sen.

Her teal hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she was wearing a little brown dress. Her shining green eyes were wide awake, and her smile lit up the room. Juuzou didn’t even listen to the questions she asked, and the answers Kiniko gave. He just stared at her.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Juuzou heard Kiniko ask.

“Oh, um, no,” Sen said, her face beet red.

The fire inside Juuzou was now a roaring blaze. He wanted to scream, to give Kiniko a solid uppercut to the jaw. His head was throbbing, his teeth couldn’t be clenched any tighter, his stomach was flopping around, his heart was pounding, his palms wee completely soaked with sweat, his limbs trembled, and he felt dizzy.

“Well if you ever wanted to go out to dinner, I could assist with that,” Kiniko said, winking.

That was the last straw for Juuzou. He couldn’t take any more.

“Would you stop flirting with her and do you’re job you good for nothing player!” Juuzou barked at his partner. 

Both Sen and Kiniko froze and stared at the young man who had just lost his cool.

“I think I should go,” Sen said, quickly gathering up her things.

Kiniko reached out “Sen, wait-.”

“I need to go!” she snapped, smacking his hand away.

She hurried out the door onto the streets, not looking back. Kiniko just sat on the couch, dumbfounded. It was silent for a minute or so, and then he turned to Juuzou.

“What the heck was that all about?” he said, raising his voice. “Why’d you go off like that?”

Juuzou stared at him for a few seconds. The truth was, he didn’t know why he reacted like that.

“I don’t know,” he muttered, looking down at his red slippers.

“Suzuya, do you know how embarrassing that was?” Kiniko said, shoving his partner’s shoulder. “I had a chance with her! Why would you do that?”

“I said I don’t know,” Juuzou said, wanting to shrink away.

“Did actually you think ruining my chances would give you a chance?” the older man said, getting in Juuzou’s face.

Juuzou felt his stomach drop. That’s not what he had been thinking… Was it? He wasn’t sure.  
“N-no,” Juuzou stuttered. “Not at all.”

“You’re stuttering!” Kiniko said, jabbing his finger at his partner. “That is what you were trying to do!

“No!” Juuzou said, face turning bright red.

“You like her!” Kiniko said in a half angry, half lighthearted tone. 

“I do not!” Juuzou said,biting his lip.

“Suzuya, look at you,” Kiniko said. “Your face is as red as a tomato, you’re sweating, and biting your lip. You so like the author chick.”

Before Juuzou could retort, Amon interrupted.

“If you two are done arguing like third graders, go finish your paperwork.”

“Yes sir,” Kiniko said, flashing their superior a smile.

Amon just rolled his eyes and walked away.

Both men stood up.

“You’re on,” Kiniko smirked.

“What?”

“A hundred bucks. Whoever gets with the author chick first.”

“What?” Juuzou said, horrified. “It’s not a game!”  
“Oh, you’re defensive,” said Kiniko, wiggling his eyebrows. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

“I’m not playing your little game,” Juuzou said, getting into the elevator to go back to the office with his partner.

“Yes you will,” Kiniko said. “Do you want to know how I know you’ll play?”

“How?” Juuzou snapped.

“You see Suzuya, that I can try to get with her. You like her, and don’t try to deny it, I don’t have the time to argue with you when we both know the facts. So if I make a move, you’ll get jealous, and you’ll make a move. Plain and simple.”

“No,” Juuzou said, gritting his teeth.

The elevator dinged, and the two men walked out. Waiting for them was Akira Mado.

“Akira,” Kiniko said, giving her a flirty smile.

She just glared at him. She was one of the few women in the building that Juuzou’s partner had not been able to charm.

Good for you Akira, Juuzou thought.

“Finish your paperwork, then you can go home,” she said, giving them a steely look.

Juuzou walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. He yelped in pain and jumped to his feet. One of the pencils that Juuzou had thrown had not stuck in the ceiling and had fallen onto the chair, and he had sat on it.

Kiniko laughed, and Juuzou shot him a glare.

“What are you laughing at?” 

“Juuzou Suzuya, you’re an weird one,” he laughed.

Weird. Juuzou smiled. He liked being considered ‘weird’. It was so much more fun then being normal and boring. But at the same time, what would Sen think of how he really was? Psychotic is what he had been called many times. 

Why am I worrying about what the author thinks of me, Juuzou asked himself. I don’t like her or anything like that, I just don’t want a nice woman like her to be just another girl used by Kiniko.

Paperwork took awhile, and by the time it was completed, it was already 9:30. Juuzou gathered his belongings, adjusted his suspenders, and walked out of the office. In the hallway waiting for him was Amon.

“Juuzou,” the older man addressed him

“Yes?” the white haired man answered.

“Having problems with the new partner?”

“No.”

“It appears otherwise,” Amon said, raising an eyebrow. 

Juuzou rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips.

“I need you two to get along,” Amon said. “So you two will go to a coffee shop tomorrow, have a nice cup of coffee, and talk things out. And don’t even try to get out of it; I have eyes everywhere.”

Juuzou groaned.

“I know you’re frustrated. He’s so Shinohara.”

Juuzou felt a twinge in his gut at the name of his old partner.

A pitiful look crossed Amon’s face. “I know it’s hard. I remember how I felt when Mado died.”

“You don’t know hardship,” Juuzou spat.

Amon’s face lit up in shock, and before he could scold Juuzou, he blew past him, down the hall, and turned the corner.

Juuzou ran for the elevator, and when inside, did something that, in his opinion, he deserved to be beat for. He wept. He wept for Shinohara. That man had been like a father, and now he was gone. He had left Juuzou all alone. And it was all the one eyed owl’s fault.

“I swear to god,” Juuzou said through sobs “Some day I will make that owl suffer. They will suffer more then anybody else has ever suffered.”

When Juuzou reached his tiny apartment, he had long stopped crying. He sat down on his bed. and stared at his feet.

Maybe I could do some stitches on my feet, Juuzou thought. But he decided against it, for he was tired, and if he messed up, it was very painful to pull the thread out.

He laid down and grabbed his phone. One new message; it was from Kiniko.

“Amon says we have to get coffee together and talk things out,” it read.

Juuzou groaned, that was not how he wanted to spend his time.

“I know,” he typed. He clicked send and rolled onto his stomach.   
In a few seconds, his phone dinged.

“Haiko’s Coffee Bistro at 11:00 tomorrow. Remember the 100 dollar bet,” it read. Juuzou let out another groan of annoyance and then plugged in his phone to charge for the night.

He got some boxers from his dresser and sat down on his bed. He unhooked the left strap of his suspenders, and then the he tried to unhook the right. It was stuck. 

“God dang it why is it stuck!” Juuzou muttered as he yanked at it. Frustration growing, he yanked as hard as he could. There was a snap, and the clip of the right suspender strap fell to the floor.

“Gah!” Juuzou said. “These are my only suspenders.”

He sighed and examined the clip, it was broken. To tired to do anything about it, he unclipped the back and threw his broken suspenders on the back of a chair. He unbuttoned his shirt. First the orange button, second the yellow, third the green. Juuzou smiled a little. He loved his rainbow buttons.

He pulled off the shirt, and then kicked off his red slippers. He stood up and pulled off the rest of what he was wearing and then put his other boxers on. He threw his clothes on the floor and then collapsed onto his bed. He let out a sigh and pulled himself off the bed and into the bathroom. 

He started to brush his teeth, and as he did, he examined his arm and chest in the mirror. He loved the red stitches that went up on his right arm and down the center of his chest. 

So much better then tattoos, he thought. Much more creative.

He spat out the mint toothpaste, took a drink, and then removed the red bobby pins from his silky white hair. His bangs fell into his face, and Juuzou ran his hands through his hair. He placed the bobby pins on the counter for the next morning. 

He walked back to his bed, which he jumped onto. He set his alarm early so that he would have time to shower. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. His mind swirled with thoughts of the beautiful, kind author. 

“Please don’t think poorly of me,” Juuzou said out loud, as if Sen Takatsuki could hear him.

Not all that far away, a woman wrapped in bandages in a magenta dress was sitting silently with Ayato on a roof.

What am I doing, Eto asked herself.

The way Juuzou blew up today when the taller investigator had been flirting with her was something she couldn’t stop thinking about. Why did he do that? She wasn’t sure. But to her it was… Cute. Why do I find it cute that he yelled at someone when they were being flirty? she asked herself.

Eto was scared of the emotions this man was making her feel. You hardly know him, She thought. But there was till something about him that she couldn’t get out of her head. His rainbow buttons, turquoise suspenders, and red slippers, she thought. She felt a stupid smile cross her face. His crayon drawings, cute way he would stare at things, the intriguing stitches on his body… The smile got wider. 

And then she remembered the screaming man throwing knives at her. And the smile disappeared.


	3. Coffee Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's just say it doesn't go as Amon hoped it would

Juuzou’s eyes groggily opened to the chirping noise of his alarm clock. He groaned and turned it off, then rolled back over. I have to go have coffee with Kiniko, he remembered.

“What a miserable start to a day,” he said. 

He forced himself to get out of the warm blankets and he sleepily stumbled over to the shower. He turned it on and sat on the edge of the tub waiting for the water to warm up.

He shuddered as he remembered last night’s dreams. They hung over his head and made him feel like as if he had a rock in his stomach. 

He pulled off what he had slept in and stepped into the shower. He stood motionless in the warm water and named everyone he had dreamed about last night.

“Takizawa. Mama. Mother and Father,” he grit his teeth. “Shinohara.”

Juuzou tried not to think about Seidou’s death. His fellow investigator had been quite annoying, but Juuzou couldn’t rid the last time he had seen the man from his thoughts: Takiwaza crying in the hallway, saying that he didn’t want to die. Now Juuzou had told others and himself that things like death didn’t bother him, and for a long while, it had been true. But now, with Shinohara gone, the truth in that statement had been starting to fade very quickly.

Shinohara. Juuzou could feel the tears coming, so he bit his lip and decided not to think about the man that had been like a father to him. In his dream last night, he could not move, and he was forced to see Shinohara be killed by the one eyed owl once again.

“That ghoul,” Juuzou said balling his hands into fists. “I will make that ghoul pay.”

Juuzou wanted to go back to not caring if people lived or died. He thought of the person that made him that way. Mama. No, Big Madame.

“Whatever her name was,” he muttered, reaching for the shampoo. 

He remembered having to be a “good boy”. And what did he get in return from the woman? Pain. She had turned him into a monster. 

“What did I ever do wrong?” he said out loud, the tears beginning to flow. 

He wondered about his parents. Juuzou didn’t know how he had come into the clutches of the ghouls. Had his parents just given him up? Had they even cared? Missed him? Who were they? Are they still alive?

His mind swirled with questions, and he cried harder.

“It’s not fair!” he wailed.

Then, he thought of Sen. She thinks I’m talented, he thought. He thought of how she had gone out of her way to talk to him at the zoo. His sobs became sniffles and then stopped completely as he thought of the author.  
He finished showering and dried off. Juuzou wrapped the towel around himself and combed his hair. 

“One, two, three, four, five,” he said as he picked up his red bobby pins and put them into place, making the roman numeral thirteen with them. “Perfect.”

He walked into the main area of his little apartment and pulled clothes out of his unorganized dresser.

“Black pants, white shirt,” he said to himself.

He put on his clothes examined the stitches on his hand, and then bounced over to the side of his bed where his red slippers were laying. He slipped them on and smiled.

“I got my slippers,” he said.

He unplugged his phone and checked it.

“Don’t b late,” the message from Kiniko read.

“I do what I want,” Juuzou said out loud, as if his co worker could hear him.

He slipped his phone into his pocket, and his pants started to slide down.

“My suspenders!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “How could I forget my beautiful suspenders?”

He rushed over to his chair and grabbed his suspenders. He clipped the back and left side, and then he remembered that last night he had broken the right clip.

“I’ve encountered a problem,” he said.

He looked around his apartment for something he could use to fix it. His eyes rested on the red string he used for stitching himself.

“This is my special stitching string,” he said, frowning. “But these are my special suspenders.”

He cut off about a foot and a half of string and then tied his strap to the hook. He ran to the bathroom to check and see if it looked okay.

He frowned when he saw it. “One side has a shiny silver clip attached to a silver shiny hook, and one side has a giant knot of red thread tied to a silver shiny hook.”

The thread had created a giant mess, but Juuzou didn’t have time to fix it. He brushed his teeth and the like and then skipped out the door.

“On my way to Haiko’s,” he said as he walked briskly down the street, humming as he went.  
He jumped up the stairs to the coffee shop, alternating the foot he landed on. 

“I’m here!” he said, throwing the door open. The little bell jingled and everyone paused from their conversations and coffee to give the white haired man an odd look. “It’s 11 o’clock.”

“Are you going to buy coffee or are you going to continue to tell us obvious things?” the barista asked.

“Suzuya!” hissed a man sitting in a corner. Kiniko was scowling at the younger man.

Juuzou smiled. He was already getting on his partner’s nerves. 

Maybe today will be better than I thought it would be, Juuzou thought. 

“Must you embarrass me so much?” Kiniko asked as Suzuya sat down.

He only shrugged. “So what did Amon say to do?” he asked the older man, wanting to get whatever this was over with.

“He said we just needed to talk,” Kiniko said, taking a sip of coffee.

“Well what do you want to talk about?” Juuzou asked.

“Hmmmmmmm,” Kiniko said, leaning back and clasping his hands. Suddenly, a sly smile crossed his face. “What about that writer you’ve got a crush on?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the younger man scoffed, feeling his face getting hot.

“Oh, I think you do,” the brunette said.

“No.”

“Look, deny it all you want, but it’s obvious. So do you have the money for our little wager?”

“I’m not playing your stupid game!”

“Alright, alright,” Kiniko sighed. “I guess that makes it all a lot easier for me then.”

“How?”

“I can do what I want without worrying about losing money.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Yes I can.” Kiniko looked at Juuzou and then chuckled. “Oh Suzuya, I never could have imagined I’d see you like this.”

“Like what?”

“Look at yourself! Blushing, biting your lip, getting all defensive. Basically, I never thought I’d see the great investigator Juuzou Suzuya hot for someone.”

“Can we just talk about something else,” Juuzou grumbled. He was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute.

“The bet is still on,” Kiniko said. “She’s really hot. I mean, no offense, but this is perfect for me. Get with a hot chick and get money. It’s perfect.”

“How do you know you would win?” 

“Because look at yourself, Suzuya. You don’t stand a chance.”

Juuzou felt angry at this blow to his already small to begin with ego.

“Speak of the devil,” Kiniko grinned, looking towards the entrance to the coffee shop.

“What?” Juuzou turned around in his chair, and then gulped and spun back around, face growing red. He bit at the stitches on his lip; he had a tendency to do that when he was nervous.

Sen had walked into the coffee shop. She was wearing a casual low cut shirt and jeans, and her long hair was down. She had a lanyard with some keys on it around her neck and had on black boots.

Juuxou shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Oh, Suzuya,” Kiniko said, shaking his head and giving his partner a pitiful smile. “Look at you. How can you expect to handle a girl when you can’t even handle yourself?”

Juuzou blushed harder.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” the older man said, standing up. “I have an author to talk to and a bet to win.”

Juuzou whirled around in his chair and watched Kiniko walk over to sen, who had just ordered a coffee. No, he thought. I can’t let her be used like that.

He took a deep breath and walked over to Sen and his co worker.

Kiniko was in the middle of introducing himself.

“I don’t recall if I ever introduced myself properly,” he said, shaking Sen’s hand. “I’m Special Investigator Daichi Kiniko.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Kiniko,” Sen said, smiling.

“Oh, that’s to formal. You can call me Daichi,” he said, winking.

Sen’s face turned red, and that familiar spark of anger igniting inside Juuzou.

“Oh, hey Juuzou!” Sen said, smiling.

Juuzou blushed. “Hey Sen.”

“Oh Suzuya, have some respect and address this fine woman formally,” Kiniko said, looking at Juuzou.

“He can call me Sen if he wants,” the writer cut in, frowning.

“Whatever the lady wants,” Kiniko laughed, putting his arm around Sen.

She stood awkwardly and glanced at Kiniko, and then turned her attention to Juuzou.

“How are-,” Sen stopped mid sentence, a confused expression on her face and her eyes fixed on Suzuya’s lower region.

Juuzou felt himself panicking and he looked down at his pants.

“What on earth is that on your suspenders?” she asked.

Juuzou felt himself relax a little now that he knew what had caused her to give him an odd look, but he felt embarassed none the less.

“Oh, that,” he mumbled. “My suspenders broke and I um didn’t have anything else to fix it with, so I just used thread.”

“Same one you use for stitching I’m guessing,” she laughed. “Oh, by the way, I’m sorry I freaked out when I saw your stitches the first time. It’s just so cool! Much better than tattoos.”

Juuzou blushed again and found himself smiling a bit. “Thanks.”

“Why didn’t you just wear other suspenders?” she asked, shifting a little farther from Kiniko, who was holding a little tighter.

“These are kinda my only ones.”

“Oh,” Sen said, a thoughtful expression on her face. Suddenly, her face lit up. “I have an idea!”

She took the clip off her lanyard, stuffing the keys in her pocket.

“This might work.”

She leaned over and started to untangle the thread that was attaching the right strap to Juuzou’s pants.

Juuzou felt his face and neck grow even hotter. His palms began to sweat and he couldn’t stop biting his lip; his whole body was tense.

Sen must’ve felt him tense up, for she quickly stopped and stoop up straight. 

“I’m sorry, that was awkward,” she said, face beet red. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Kiniko was staring at her, a shocked expression on his face. He quickly got over it though, and he placed his arm around Sen again.

“It’s fine,” Juuzou stammered.

He finished getting the thread off, and he threw it in the garbage can next to them. He felt the right side of his pants begin to slip, and Sen giggled and handed him the lanyard clip. Juuzou clipped it on, and his suspenders were good as new.

“Thanks!” Juuzou said, finding the confidence to smile at the pretty woman.

“Oh, by the way, I love your rainbow buttons,” Sen said, pointing to the green, yellow, and orange buttons of Juuzou’s shirt. “They’re really cute.”

Suzuya’s face flushed, and he smiled again. “Thanks.”

“So,” Kiniko said, shooting Juuzou a glare. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“No, not really,” Sen said.

“Really?” Kiniko cooed in her hair, letting his arm drop from around her shoulder to her waist.

Sen shifted away, but Kiniko pulled her closer. 

“Why?” she asked. Juuzou piked up a hint of something he would call fear in her voice.

“Oh, I was just thinking you could come back to my place,” he said, arm and hand slipping lower. 

“Actually, I think I’m busy,” she said.

Juuzou felt the spark of anger he had felt earlier erupt into roaring flame. Control yourself, he thought. Don’t blow up like last time.

“Oh, we can make time,” Kiniko said starting to pull Sen towards the exit of the little bistro.

“Oh,” Sen said, face completely white. Kiniko forcefully guided the young woman towards the door and out of the coffee shop.

Before they were completely out the door, Juuzou’s partner looked back at the younger man and mouthed the words ‘I won’.

But Sen also looked back at the white haired man, and the look on her face made Juuzou unable to control himself anymore. Her eyes were wide and pleading, and full of fear.

The two went out the door, and Juuzou stood in place for about ten seconds, in shock of everything that was going on. When he cae to his senses, he bolted out the bistro door and into the street. He looked both ways, and he didn’t see either Sen or Kiniko. 

Then he spotted them walking into an alley across the street. Kiniko was pulling Sen along by her arm. Filled with rage, he sprinted across the street.

“I’ve spotted them,” he said to himself.

“Kiniko!” Suzuya said, skidding to a halt in front of his partner and the novelist. “Where are you going?”

“We’re going back to my place,” he said, giving the younger man a gloating look.

“Amon said to stay at the coffee shop.”

“Well you see here, this wonderful lady really wants to go with me.”

“No I don’t!” Sen said, yanking her arm away from the man.

“Yes you do,” Kiniko said, grabbing onto her.

“Let go of me!” the author yelled, slapping him across the face.

“How dare you slap me!” Kiniko said, raising his voice.

“Leave her alone!” Juuzou said, shoving his co worker. 

Kiniko let go of Sen and stared at Juuzou, like he was still trying to comprehend the fact that this man, who wasn’t even twenty yet, had just shoved him and spoken out against him.

“What was that you said?” letting go of Sen and getting very close to Juuzou, staring down at the younger man.

“I said leave her alone,” Juuzou said as bravely as he could. Kiniko was bigger and older than him, and without a quinque or some type of weapon, he knew he couldn’t beat the older man in a fight.

Kiniko swung at Suzuya, and the white haired man ducked. The older man began to swing again and again, but Juuzou was quick, and he dodged the blows.

“Fight like a man!” Kiniko growled at Suzuya. Juuzou turned and started the run back toward the street.   
“Are you really going to chicken out and run away in front of the girl?” Kiniko screamed.

Juuzou picked up a broken garden stake on the ground, and when Kiniko punched, he sidestepped. Juuzou then hit his partner in the face.

Kiniko howled in pain, blood spurting out his nose. He grabbed the stake and yanked it away from the white haired man, and then swung it at him.

Suzuya ducked, and became increasingly aware his partner was backing him up closer and closer to a busy street.

“Stop!” Juuzou yelled at the brunette. He was vaguely aware of Sen shouting, pleading for the two men to stop fighting.

Before he knew it, Juuzou’s foot slipped on the curb. “This is a busy street, stop it!” Sen yelled.

But Kiniko payed her no mind, and he punched Juuzou in the stomach as hard and he could. The punch sent Juuzou flying into the street.

The impact of the black sedan against Juuzou’s tiny body should’ve killed him. The couple inside thecar screamed in horror as a white haired boy’s body rolled up over the top of their car. They skidded to a halt, and Suzuya laid motionless in the street.

“Juuzou!”

Sen’s scream seemed to bring Kiniko out of his heat of anger and back to the reality of things.

“Suzuya!” he exclaimed and rushed over to his partner’s body.

Juuzou was staring at the asphalt. The impact didn’t hurt him; he was pretty much insensitive to pain. He was just startled, and his head felt a bit dizzy.

He got to his feet and shook his head, but the dizziness remained. Sen, Kiniko, and the rest of the bystanders gaped at him, astonished that he was alive, let alone able to get up.

The driver of the car ran up to Juuzou, asking if he was okay and the like.

“Just a bit dizzy!” Juuzou giggled.

He then glared at Kiniko. Oh, he hated his partner even more now. At least Sen was now safe.

“Juuzou I’m sorry!” Kiniko said, his nose crooked and bloody.

Instead of speaking to the older man, Juuzou just smiled at the beautiful author that was staring at him in awe.

“Best be getting home!” Juuzou said out loud to nobody in particular. 

He took a couple steps and staggered. The dizziness was getting worse and worse.

“Juuzou, what are you doing!” Sen said, running up to him and helped him out of the street.

“Walking home,” he replied. He took another step and almost feel, but Sen caught him. His stomach was churning, he thought he might throw up. 

“No, I’m taking you to a hospital!” Sen exclaimed.

“Home,” Juuzou said, vision starting to blur. “Don’t feel pain. Just need to lay down.”

“At a hospital they’ll take care of you,” Sen frowned. Juuzou fell to his knees, and Sen kneeled down next to him, letting him lean on her.

Juuzou thought of how Amon would react if he knew about what had gone down. If he was admitted to the hospital, CCG would be notified and Amon would find out.

“Home!” Juuzou barked at Sen, the words coming out a little sharper then he had planned.

Sen frowned. “What’s your address?”

“7977 Rozu street.” Juuzou said, body starting to collapse as his vision blurred even more. “Apartment number 26.”

He closed his eyes, and Juuzou’s world went dark.


	4. Head injuries and cozy clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sen takes care of Juuzou

Juuzou stirred a bit, and his red eyes open to his blurry surroundings.

“Where am I?” he said out loud. He sat up and looked around. He was at his apartment. And working in the kitchen was no other then Sen Takatsuki.

Juuzou gulped.

She looked up from whatever she was making in a large iron pot on the stove and smiled at Juuzou.

“Oh, good, you’re up!” she smiled, doing that cute little wave thing she would do. “I’m making you soup.”

Juuzou managed a small smile before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and starting to stand up.

“No no no!” Sen said in a scolding manor. “You hit your head awfully hard. I know you’re not supposed to sleep when that happens, but I couldn’t keep you awake.”

“How did I get back to my apartment?” Juuzou asked, cocking his head at the pretty girl.

“You insisted not to be taken to the hospital,” Sen explained. “So I asked you where you lived and you told me. So I got a cab and brought you back and put you in bed, got some stuff from the store, and came back.”

“You carried me up the stairs?” Juuzou asked, face feeling warm. “And paid for a cab?”

“Mhm,” Sen said, smiling at him. “It was the least I could do, especially after how you saved me from Kiniko.”

“He’s annoying,” Juuzou blurted out, trying to think of something to the beautiful woman that was standing in his apartment.

“You got that right,” Sen said, rolling her eyes. “Well the soup still has a little bit yet. I think taking a nice hot shower would help.”

Juuzou nodded. He looked outside; it was getting dark out.

“Do you have anything cozy to put on afterwards?”

“Cozy?”

“Yeah,” Sen said, giving him an odd look. “Like something warm. Sweats and a sweatshirt?”

Juuzou shook his head. “No.”

“What do you sleep in then?” 

Juuzou could feel his face turn bright red. His stomach twisted.

“My boxers,” he muttered, not meeting the author’s eyes.

“Oh, that’s ok,” Sen giggled. “Go take your shower, I’m going to keep working on the soup.”

Juuzou walked into his bathroom and changed out of his clothes. He turned on the shower and stepped in, the hot water feeling god on his skin.

He thought about the beautiful girl who was doing so much for him, even though they had not known each other long. He thought of what Shinohara would’ve said if he were here. Suzuya decided that his partner probably would’ve teased him. Not the way Kiniko had, but in a playful way.

Juuzou still felt a little dizzy when he moved quickly, and it was an odd feeling. He had had it before, when Mama had hit him in the head especially hard during good boy time. It took about three days to go away then.

When the man decided he had wasted enough water, he got out and dried off, water dripping from his bangs and down the bridge of his nose. He dried off, and then his heart jolted when he realized the mistake he had made.

He wrapped himself in the towel and opened the door a crack. 

“Sen?” he called out, his voice shaky with embarrassment.

“Yeah?” he heard her call from the kitchen.

“Um, I forgot to grab new clothes.”

“That’s ok,” she giggled. “While you were in the shower, I ran to the store and I got you something. I’ll put it on the bed, and I’ll stay in the kitchen while you get whatever you need.”

Juuzou watched through the crack in the door as Sen placed a large bag on his bed and then returned to the kitchen. Tying the towel even closer around him, he hurried and grabbed some fresh boxers from his drawer and then looking inside the white bag that was sitting on the bed. He glanced at Sen, who had her back turned to him and was humming to herself in the kitchen over the stove, and then peered in the bag. 

Inside was a bulky gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Juuzou took the clothes out and hurried to the bathroom and put them on. When he came out, Sen had soup sitting on his nightstand for him.

“Eat up, you’ll feel better.”

Juuzou ate his soup while Sen cleaned up the kitchen. The soup was for sure not the best soup Juuzou had ever had, but it was something.

“Sorry if it wasn’t very good,” the author said as she took the empty bowl when Suzuya had finished. “I haven’t cooked for awhile.”

“Thank you,” Juuzou said. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost nine thirty,” Sen said, sitting down next to Juuzou on his bed.

He could feel his face grow hot from how close the writer was to him.

“Do you have anybody that you could call to watch over you?”

“What do you mean? Juuzou asked.

“Do you have a girlfriend that could come over?”

Suzuya blushed. “No”

“A parent?”

Juuzou shook his head.

“Siblings?” 

“No.”

“Friends?” Sen asked softly.

“No,” Juuzou said, more hurt showing in his voice then he would’ve liked. “I don’t have any friends.” His voice squeaked as the tears began to well in his eyes.

Sen put her arm around Suzuya, who flinched.

“Juuzou,” she said softly, looking at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes. “What’s your story?”

“What do you mean?” Juuzou sniffed.

“Where are your parents? Why are you so-,” she paused. “Alone?”

Juuzou then did the unimaginable. He cried. In front of Sen Takatsuki. 

“You don’t have to say anything, I’m sorry for asking,” she said.

“I don’t know who my parents are,” Juuzou choked out through sobs. “I was raised by ghouls.”

“Ghouls?” Sen asked, flinching.

“Yes. My earliest memory I was with them. So I have no idea who my parents are, and how I got to be with the ghouls. I don’t know if I was kidnapped, or if they just gave me up.”

“What happened with the ghouls?”

Juuzou held nothing back. He told Sen of Mama and what she would do to him, his job of killing, how the CCG had freed him, and of everything with Shinohara. Juuzou noticed that there was a hint of another emotion when he told her how Shinohara had died, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

When he was finished, there were tears in Sen’s eyes. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tight, Juuzou’s nose buried in her shoulder. She smelled of coffee, flowers, and… Blood?

It must be me who smells like blood, not her, Juuzou thought.

Suzuya looked at the clock. It read eleven thirty two pm. He blinked, vision blurry. He laid down on his pillow and started to drift off. Just as he was almost asleep, he felt Sen get off the bed.

“Please stay with me,” he murmured. Sen paused, and then sat back down.

Juuzou smiled a bit, and then drifted to sleep.


	5. Everyone has secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to work doesn't go so well

Juuzou smiled, burying his nose buried in teal hair. His arms were wrapped around the woman tightly, and their legs were tangled. It took the young man a minute to realize that this was not a dream. He yelped and sat up.

Sen groaned and rolled over and began to rub the sleep from her eyes. She suddenly stopped, and then turned and looked at Juuzou, face beet red.

“I- I must have fallen asleep,” she stuttered, sitting up and untangling herself from the sheets. 

Juuzou didn’t know what to stay, so he just stammered “Thanks for staying with me last night.”

That made Sen smile a little, and then she pulled a white card out of her pocket and handed it to Juuzou. “No, thank you for opening up to me last night. My number’s on here. If you want someone to call or text, don’t hesitate to give me a ring. Or if you want to maybe meet up someplace or something.”

“Thanks,” Juuzou said, uncontrollably grinning.

“Well, I best be off. You’ll be ok as long as you rest.”

“Rest?” Juuzou said. “I have work.”

Sen frowned. “Well, take it easy then. Are you sure you want to go in today?”

“Of course,” Juuzou said, getting to his feet and smirking. “I’ve got ghouls to slaughter.”

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Juuzou swore he saw Sen flinch as he said that. Maybe she’s just sensitive to violence, he thought.

When the author left, Juuzou got ready for work, a smile on is face the whole time. He still fel t a little dizzy, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. 

On his way to work, Juuzou stopped and got a donut. Walking down the street with a sugary ball of dough in his hand and thoughts of Sen Takatsuki in his mind, he realized he felt much better than he had been the last week or so.

He reached the CCG office ten minutes late, and he crept inside, to avoid being detected by Amon. Just as he was almost to his cubicle and safe, he froze in his tracks.

“Juuzou Suzuya,” a stern female voice said from behind him.

He slowly turned around, a guilty smile plastered on his face. Steal gray eyes burned into him.

“Hi, Akira!”

“Investigator Amon is waiting for you in his office,” she said, and then walked away.

Juuzou swallowed hard. He knew he was busted. He did his best to compose himself and then walked into Amon’s office.

The tall man was seated at his desk and was scrutinizing over some of the files on his desk. He looked up when Juuzou entered the room, and his green-blue eyes darkened.

“Take a seat,” he said, gesturing to the other chair in the room and pushing away the files.

Juuzou flopped into the chair and tried to keep a positive demeanor.

“So,” Amon said, clasping his hands on the desk. “I ask you to go out for coffee and work things out, and you both end up displaying reckless behavior in public.” 

“I wasn’t behaving recklessly!”

“You hit your partner in the face with a gardening stake.”

Juuzou just groaned.

“And you tried to deceive me.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. You did not go to the hospital to avoid a report being sent over here.”

“How’d ya find out anyway?”

Amon sighed. “Kiniko checked into the hospital. You broke his nose.”

“He deserved it!”

“I’m done with you and Kiniko’s bickering!” he yelled, slamming his fist down on the desk. The voices outside the office door hushed.

“I had good reasons for doing what I did!”

“And what would those be? That you’re an annoying little prick who’s messed up in the head because his mama was a ghoul?” Amon yelled.

Juuzou froze. No words would come out of his mouth,

“I’m so sorry,” Amon said, realizing how hurtful his words had been.

“Don’t worry about it. I know I’m messed up,” Juuzou growled and began to walk out of Amon’s office. “And by the way,” Suzuya said, looking back over at his shoulder at Amon. “I was protecting a woman that Kiniko was forcefully trying to take advantage of.”

Amon gulped, and Juuzou strode out of Amon’s office, through the cubicles, through the CCG lobby, out onto the street, and all the way home. He didn’t care if he got in trouble for leaving work. He just needed to be at home. So he went there. And he cried.

That evening, Amon lounged on his couch, watching the fire crackle in the fireplace. 

“Rough day, Hm?” Akira said, sitting down beside him.

Amon looked at his girlfriend and the back to the flames. “He hates me now.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” she said, placing her hand over his.

“I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not his fault.”

“You got that right.”

Amon rolled his eyes. “I just don’t understand why him and and Kiniko can’t get along.”

“He told you why he broke his nose.”

“And you believe him?”

Akira laughed. “Of course I do. That seems like a very Kiniko thing to do.”

“What?” Amon asked, a little shocked.

Akira sighed and shook her head. “You don’t realize because you’re a man, but Kiniko tries to get with any and every woman he can.”

 

“He’s gone at you?”

“Yes.”

“That little-,” Amon grit his teeth.

“Relax,” Akira said, smirking at him. “Don’t get upset. We’re still keeping us a secret for now.”

“Remind me why,” Amon said.

“Because I’m still your subordinate,” she stated in a matter of fact way. “And you know the rules just as well as I do.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But nobody knows, so we’re not going to let any rules get in the way of our time, are we?” Akira said, kissing him.

Amon kissed back stiffly. Akira broke the kiss and leaned back and sighed.

“You’re still thinking about Suzuya, aren’t you.”

“I can’t help it!” Amon exclaimed.

“Just don’t be so hard on him. You don’t know what’s going on in his life.”

“I guess,” Amon sighed.

Somewhere in an abandoned building, Eto sat next to Noro and watched a blue haired boy cuss out a bawling man.

Ayato gave the blond a sharp kick to the ribs.

“Stop crying!” Ayato screamed at Naki.

“Boss!” Naki wailed.

Eto cringed; at least she had her bandages to block out some of the sound. But she could not help thinking about Juuzou, even through the racket.

Maybe… Just Maybe he’d call.


	6. The Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to the movies

Juuzou sat in a CGG office, glaring at Kiniko from across the table. He had purposely been avoiding his partner since the incidents of the week before, but Amon had forced them together to look into some things on the eyepatch, who had narrowly escaped from Arima and was still on the loose.

Amon had apologized about what he had said, not that that meant anything to Suzuya. He had texted Sen several times, but the conversations were short. It seemed to be that the author was always busy. Or she doesn’t want to talk to me, he thought.

Kiniko was staring at the reports with an expressionless look, as he had been doing for the last ten minutes. There was a white bandage on his nose.

“I really don’t want to do this,” he said, leaning back, blue eyes glazed from staring at the papers.

“Well, that’s what we’re paying paid to do.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Kiniko said, pulling out his wallet. He pulled out a hundred dollars and dropped a hundred Yen in front of Juuzou. “You won.”

“What did I win?”

“The bet,” Kiniko muttered. “You got the author chick.”

“No,” Juuzou said, sliding the money back to his partner. “Sen and I are just friends.”

“But didn’t she take you back to your place?”

“Yes.”

“And you did absolutely nothing?”

“Yes.”

“Wow,” Kiniko scoffed. “Well, even if you won’t take the money, good on you. Sen’s one of two women who rejected me.”

“Who was the other?”

“Akira,” Kiniko scowled. “Maybe she’s seeing somebody.”

“Akira seeing somebody?” Juuzou laughed. “Akira’s just work, work, work. No fun.”

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, Juuzou’s phone buzzed. He opened it and stared at the message, heart fluttering.

Hey! Do u wanna go see a movie with me tonight?  
“Sen just asked me if I want to go to the movies with her tonight,” he said, not sure if he was convincing himself what he was reading or telling Kiniko.

“Seriously?” Kiniko exclaimed. “Say yes!”

“I am,” Juuzou said as he responded.

Great, Sen replied. Meet me at the Yoieiga theater at 8:30.

After that, Juuzou’s day seemed even longer. When he finally got off of work, he practically ran to theater. 

Sen was standing out front, wearing a pretty blue dress. She smiled and waved when she saw him.

“Hi,” he blushed.

“Ready?” she asked.

The two walked into the theater and bought tickets.

“Do you want anything to eat?” Juuzou asked.

“No thanks, I just had dinner.”

Juuzou bought some candy, not wanting to admit all the sugar he had just bought was his dinner.

They sat in the back, and Juuzou’s heart was hammering through the whole film. The movie was a comedy, but he was to nervous to laugh. He watched a man in front of them put his arm around the woman he was with, and Suzuya wondered if that’s what Sen wanted him to do.

He opted not to.

When the movie was over, Juuzou walked Sen to her apartment. They talked of all different things, and Sen semed genuinely interested in how Suzuya was feeling; how things were going at work for him.

“So, what’s your family like?” Juuzou asked.

Sen gave him a questioning look.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“Oh, no,” Sen said. “No cousins either.”

“What are your parents like?”

A sad look flashed across Sen’s face.

“My mother died when I was a baby,” she said softly. “And then my father abandoned me. He died not to long ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” Juuzou said, placing his hand on her shoulder and feeling awkward for bringing it up. “Who raised you?”

“My father’s friend.”

“What was his name?”

“His name was Noroi.”

“Oh,” Juuzou said. “I’m sorry that you lost him too.”

“No, he isn’t dead. He just goes by a different name now. Not that it matters, he doesn’t talk anymore anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Well, this is my place,” Sen said, stopping in front of a fancy apartment complex.

Juuzou stared into her green eyes, and he fought the urge to kiss her right then and there. Deep down, he knew Kiniko was right. He did like this woman. But he also knew that Sen was rich and popular, and then he would never be more than a friend to her.

“Goodnight, Sen,” he said, putting more hidden emotion into those words then Sen Takatsuki would ever know.

She smiled. “Goodnight, Juuzou.”

And then she hugged him. At first, he was to shocked to move. Then, he wrapped his arms around her. She still smelled of coffee, and instead of flowers, the scent of candy lingered. But beneath the sweet smells, Juuzou couldn’t help but detect rancid, metallic smell that he knew all to well. Blood.


	7. Gift Wrap and Red Thread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet at the park, and Juuzou finds himself wrapping a christmas present for the first time/

The next week went by rather smoothly for investigator Suzuya Juuzou. He kept his distance from Amon, and he didn’t argue all that much with Kiniko. However, Juuzou figured the lack of arguing was due to the fact that they had done little to no work. There was no leads on the two mens’ assignment: locating an Aogiri base. 

Thinking about Sen made the office a lot less boring. They would call each other every night for about an hour before they went to sleep. It would fill Juuzou with this strange, warm fuzzy feeling that was unfamiliar to him. They would have light conversations about the days events, and deep conversations about how they felt. Suzuya noticed that no matter how much he pried, he got nothing more out of Sen having to do with her family.

Juuzou was sitting on a park bench, waiting for Sen to show up. He fiddled with his suspenders and kicked his feet in the snow.

“Hey!” Sen said, sitting down next to him. She handed him a donut. “I got you this.”

“Thanks!”

The two talked for awhile about all sorts of things.

“Aren’t you excited for Christmas?” Sen squealed. 

“Not really,” Juuzou answered honestly.

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t really do anything for it.”

Sen was quiet for a couple seconds. “We could do something.”

“Like what?”

“Whatever you want,” she smiled. “But we couldn’t go to my apartment, because my step father is going to be there.”

“I thought-.”

“He doesn’t speak,” Sen said, cutting Juuzou off. “And he prefers to be left alone.”

“Oh,” Juuzou said. “Well, we could go over to my place.”

“We could bake christmas cookies!” Sen said, clapping her hands together.

Juuzou’s face brightened. He loved Christmas cookies. “That sounds good!”

“And that way I can give you your gift!”

“You got me something?” Suzuya asked, shocked. Nobody had ever gotten him a Christmas gift before.  
“Yeah,” Sen smiled. “I saw something and I thought of you, and Christmas is coming up, so I thought why not.”

“Thanks,” he blushed.

The two stayed in the park until the snow started coming down. 

“Well, I have to go!” Sen said, getting up.

Juuzou stood up. “Bye,” he said.

And he hugged her. He was shocked by his own sudden display of confidence.

After she left, Juuzou went to the store.

“What should I get her for Christmas?” he wondered out loud. He had never bought a Christmas present for anyone before.

After a fair amount of looking, Suzuya opted to buy a couple notebooks, some nice pens, and a type of coffee that he knew she loved. When he was walking to the checkout lane, he realized he would also need wrapping paper. He bought a plain red roll and purchased the other things and went home.

Back at his apartment, he laid out what he needed on the floor. He put out the scissors, wrapping paper, and the gifts.

It was then he realized two things: He had no tape, and no idea how to wrap a gift.

He cut a giant piece of paper from the roll and placed the items in the middle. He then began folding the best he could. When it was done, it looked like a lumpy pillowcase.

Having no tape, Suzuya decided to stitch the pieces of wrapping paper together. With a needle and his red thread, he worked well on into the night trying to get everything to hold together. 

When he was finished, he ate some cake he had in the fridge for a very late dinner, and then decided since he was already up late, he might as well make her card that night as well. He sat down in his chair and grabbed his clipboard and piece of paper and his crayons.

He then proceeded to sit there trying to think of what to write or draw. He racked his brain of what Sen would like a picture of. Finally, he decided to draw a picture of Sen and him when they first met, sitting on the bench at the zoo, watching the giraffes.

It took Juuzou two hours to complete his drawing, but he was satisfied with it. He wrote ‘Merry Christmas’ on the bottom in green and red block letters.

Weary eyed, he glanced at the clock. It read 1:05 A.M. Without bothering to change, the young investigator collapsed in his bed and fell asleep.


	8. Christmas Kisses

It was Christmas morning. Juuzou awoke at 10:30, and he almost jumped out of bed. Then, he remembered he had no work that day. He reached over and grabbed his phone. Juuzou smiled when he saw he had a message from Sen.

Is 8:30 a good time for me to come over, it read.

Suzuya responded that that time sounded good, and then looked around at his apartment. It was a pigsty. He sighed, and climbed out of bed and got to work cleaning his apartment.

It was 7:00 at night when the place was finally presentable. Juuzou showered, and put on his cleanest clothes. He clipped on his suspenders and adjusted them so his whole outfit didn't look so… baggy. He put the red hairpins in as straight as he could, and then nervously ate three bags of gumdrops.

Right at 8:30, the doorbell rang. Juuzou gulped, heart racing. He opened the door to see Sen Takatsuki smiling at him. She was wearing a red turtleneck and black jeans and converse shoes. Her long hair was down. In her hands she held three perfectly wrapped silvery packages, with a red bow on the one on top.

"Merry Christmas!" she said.

"Merry Christmas!" Juuzou said. "Come on in."

Sen entered the apartment and placed the nicely wrapped gifts on the coffee table. "Do you want to make the cookies, and then while they're baking, open what I got you?"

"Sure!" Juuzou said, heart light with joy. He no longer felt awkward, he could be himself around the pretty author. "I got you something too."

"Really?" Sen said, eyes lighting up. "Thanks!"

The two walked into the kitchen.

"I brought my mother's recipe," Sen said. "She worked at a café, so they should be good."

"Alright!" Juuzou said. He glanced at the recipe, and then began to preheat the oven.

He pulled out a giant mixing bowl, and Sen began to tell him about the Christmas party she had gone to earlier.

"Someone spilled punch all over me!"

Juuzou couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny!" she said, failing to hide the laughter in her voice.

"Sure it is," Juuzou said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

They pulled out all the materials on the list that they needed and set them on the counter.

"First flour," Juuzou said.

Sen opened the flour, and threw a bit on Juuzou.

"Hey!" he said, unable to hide his grin.

He threw a bit of sugar at Sen, who, laughing, through back more flower.

"You're getting it in my hair!" Juuzou laughed.

Soon the two were throwing the flower and sugar at each other without a care in the world. Tears of laughter rolled down Juuzou's face, and Sen found herself laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. It didn't take long before they were both sitting on the kitchen floor laughing, covered in sugar and flour.

"Should we actually start the recipe now?" Sen giggled.

"Probably," Juuzou said, dusting himself off.

The two finished making the recipe with only a tad bit more throwing of the materials. When the cookies were finally in the oven to bake, Sen and Juuzou went into Juuzou's living room/bedroom.

Juuzou put his bulkily wrapped gift for Sen next the things she had gotten him. It looked even messier next to Sen's neat wrapping job.

"Sorry about how messy it is," he mumbled.

"That's ok!" Sen said. "It's cute."

Juuzou blushed. "Open yours first," he said.

"Ok!"

They sat down, and Sen ripped off the red paper, stopping to tear the red thread that bound it together. She gasped when she pulled out the new new notepads, pulling them out.

"I needed these so bad!" she squealed, throwing her arms around Juuzou.

She continued opening her gift, and she hugged the man again when she found the fountain pens. She hugged him for a third time when she saw the coffee.

"You remembered my favorite!" she exclaimed.

"I also made you a card," Suzuya said, handing her the paper.

She looked at it for a minute, and then she looked at Juuzou. There were tears in her eyes.

"I love it," she said, hugging him once again, this time for much longer. "Now open what I got you," she said when she broke the hug and dried her eyes.

Juuzou ripped open the smallest package. Inside was a set of pastels.

"These are so much better for drawing than crayons!" he said, heart full of joy.

"Yup! These can blend. I must warm you though, they're really very messy."

"Thank you!" he said.

He then opened the medium sized package. Inside was a sketch pad.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed.

"You needed something to use the pastels on," Sen said, smiling.

Juuzou then took the paper off the last and largest package. Inside was a clothes box. He ripped the tape off the sides, took the top off, and lifted off the layer of tissue paper.

He gasped.

Inside was a new pair of suspenders. They were red with yellow polkadots.

"I love them," he said softly, taking them out of the box.

"Really?" Sen said, biting her lip.

"Yeah!" Juuzou said, a glowing smile on his face. He stood up and held them up to himself. "They look like they would fit."

They talked for awhile, and then the oven beeped. Juuzou and Sen went into the kitchen, and Juuzuu using oven mitts, took out the sheet.

"I'm gonna eat that one when it cools," Juuzou said, pointing to a christmas tree shaped cookie.

"I'm not gonna eat any," Sen said.

"What? Why not."

"I don't like the taste. I just like making them."

"Oh."

They went back into the main room and sat on Juuzou's bed.

"Wow, it's already 9:30," Sen said.

"Yeah," Juuzou said sadly. "I'm going to have to be going to bed soon. I have a big day tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"Well," said Juuzou. "Kiniko and I actually did some work, and we located an Aogiri base. It's in some abandoned building in the sixteenth ward."

Sen heart skipped a beat and her stomach twisted.

"Really?" she said, trying to sound casual. "So, you're going to have a raid of the place?"

"Yup!" Juuzou said. "Gonna cut up as many ghouls as I can."

Again, he saw something change in her eyes. It wasn't fear, not quite panic… Juuzou just couldn't put his finger on it.

A raid tomorrow? Sen's heart was racing. There was so much at the base, there was no way they could clear everything out by tomorrow. Plus, everyone in Aogiri had gone home for Christmas night. They would have to stand their ground.

Sen clenched her jaw and grit her teeth.

"That's cool," she said, trying not to stutter.

Her hands shook and her lip trembled, and her mouth was dry.

"Are you okay?" Juuzou asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said, his touch jolting her back to her senses. "It's just… my mother was killed by ghouls."

She didn't feel bad about saying that. It may have not been the reason she reacted, but the statement was not false.

"I'm so sorry," Juuzou said, hugging her. No wonder she flinches when I bring up ghouls.

He pulled away and looked into her beautiful green eyes. They were so pretty, and he brushed a teal strand of hair out of them unconsciously. She smiled. She had such a beautiful smile. Juuzou once again felt compelled to kiss her, and he didn't know if could fight it.

So he didn't.

He pressed his lips against hers, right then and there. She stiffened in shock at first, but then relaxed. Sen reached her hand around his neck and pulled him deeper. He kissed her the best he could; he had never kissed anybody before. Her lips were sweet like candy, but once again, there was something faint lingering behind the sweetness; this time a taste.

He could barely detect it, but Juuzou, just for a second or so, could've swore he tasted the metallic tang of blood.

Sen eventually broke the kiss, and she tucked a white curl behind his ear. She smiled at him, their noses almost touching.

"Now that was unexpected, investigator Juuzou Suzuya."


	9. Raid On The Base

uuzou sat on the bench inside the van with many other CCG members. He held his quinque case between his legs as the bus bounced along. All the men were hunched over in their gray uniforms, grim looks on their faces. Everyone looked like they had just signed their life away. Sadly, some of them had. Not Juuzou though. He sat there, a smile on his face, thinking about the night before. He had kissed Sen. He had finally done it. After he had kissed her, she had had to leave. She had said she had 'important business' to take care of.

If Juuzou was being completely honest with himself, he wasn't exactly sure what Sen and him were. They were more than friends for sure, but he knew they weren't dating. He wanted to date her, but he wasn't even sure what dating really was and what it involved. He pondered asking Kiniko, but then quickly decided against it.

The van stopped near the abandoned building, all the other transports joining. Choppers filled the air with noise.

The man in their van that was in charge gave the CCG men their orders, and the doors were opened. Everybody rushed out. The goal: make it inside the building.

Robed Aogiri members shot at the CGG men as they raced toward the building, but Juuzou was fast enough to dodge everything. He slid inside the building and opened his quinque case. He twirled his scythe around and raced further inside to find the ghouls.

It didn't take long. Soon he was surrounded by eight Aogiri tree ghouls, all wearing the typical skull masks and maroon robes. Suzuya laughed and swung his scythe around. He made quick work of them, and soon the floor and Juuzou himself was blood soaked.

As he slaughtered the ghouls, Juuzou found himself doing what he did for more of a purpose than usual. As he slashed and hacked, he thought of Shinohara. He was doing this to make Shinohara proud. And he thought of Sen. He was doing this to avenge her mother.

He made his way to the heart of the building, and in the very center, standing in an abandoned office that had a high ceiling, plaster peeling off the walls and broken chairs and flipped tables, was a female ghoul.

She wore a magenta dress with the sleeves ripped off. It came down to her knees and had a hood with two pieces of cloth that hung off, resembling ears. Around her neck was a pink scarf with red flowers on it. The oddest thing about the ghoul was that she was wrapped from head to toe in bandages. Juuzou couldn't see her eyes, just to black holes.

"Aren't you an odd one!" Juuzou giggled. "Well, time to die!" he said, spinning is scythe around.

Eto's heart raced. If she took full form, Juuzou wouldn't survive. She made the quick decision to use her ukaku kakuja kagune only. Her kagune erupted from her back and she began shooting at him.

He dodged her without issue, probably because Eto wasn't trying. The white haired man swung his scythe around, slashing at the bandaged ghoul with a demented look in his eyes.

"Why won't you die already?" Juuzou said in a whiney voice. "I want to see your guts go everywhere!"

Eto's heart twisted as she continued to dodge his purple blade. This man wanted her to die. She remembered the sweet taste of his lips from the night before. She knew this fight was going to drain her if she didn't make a move soon. But could she bring herself to harm this man she had grown to care for so much?

Juuzou was tiring a little, moves getting sloppier. Eto saw this as her chance. She grit her teeth, told herself this is what she had to do, and shot at the man she had kissed the night before without mercy.

Suddenly, Juuzou stopped swing around his scythe. He stared down at his stomach. A spike of the bandaged ghoul's kagune was protruding out.

"I can't breath," he stuttered, and then fell to the ground. The scythe clattered out of his hands, and his red eyes remained locked on the ghoul whom had wounded him.

Eto stared at him. "What have I done?" she said to softly for Juuzou to hear. The bandages covering her face began to become wet from tears.

"Suzuya!" she heard from right outside the room they were in.

Investigators Amon, Akira, and Kiniko ran into the room, and then came to a grinding halt.

"Suzuya," Amon said, looking at Juuzou, who was now struggling to get up.

Eto knew that in order to fight the doves she would have to assume full form. The investigators watched in horror as the little bandaged girl's bandaged face turned to that of a monster. The ears on her hood turned to horns, and delicate fingers turned to claws. When the transformation was complete, the once small ghoul towered over the investigators, spikes jutting out of her back.

She roared at them. Juuzou's eyes widened. This was the One Eyed Owl. The bandaged ghoul and the owl was the same ghoul. A fiery hate shot through him. This ghoul had murdered Shinohara. He struggled to get up, and even though he felt no pain, how much blood he lost was keeping him grounded.

The three doves that were in fighting condition prepared their quinques. But Eto didn't give them a chance. She busted through the wall and scrambled out into the abandoned streets, jumping onto a building a running across rooftops, tiles skidding about.

Eto transformed back into her human like form as she ran, bandages flying in the wind and coming loose under her magenta dress. She found another abandoned building; much smaller than the other. She ran inside and dashed into a random room, where she collapsed and began to sob.

"How could I do that," she choked out. "I- I love him."


	10. A Complex Question

Eto sat in a stiff chair, staring at the tiled ground. She looked up the stark white hallway that was glowing with artificial light. It smelled of sickness and death here. She had never been to this hospital before, but she knew this was the place Juuzou had been admitted to. The people at the front desk had been gracious to allow her to wait in the hallway outside the room Juuzou was in until the doctor finished talking to him. After that, she was allowed to go see him.

The doctor walked out of the room, and held the door open for Eto.

"You may see the patient now," he said.

"Thank you," she said, and walked into the room.

Juuzou was laying on a hospital bed with all sorts of equipment surrounding him. His head was propped up with a pillow. His red eyes were sunken and his skin was ghostly pale.

"Sen," he said, smiling a little when he saw her.

Sen's heart twisted. She was the reason he was laying here like this. As she walked over to the side of his bed, she felt the tears begin to rush to her eyes. She tried to fight it, but soon her cheeks were wet.

"Juuzou," she said softly, taking his hand in hers. "How are you holding up?" she asked, choking back a sob.

"I don't really feel pain, remember," Juuzou said, smiling a little. "The doctor says I'm going to be just fine. Don't cry!"

Sen only cried harder.

"Hey," he said. "I'm going to be fine. You don't have to worry about that."

Little did Juuzou know, Sen was sobbing not because she was worried about him getting better (which she wasn't; Eto knew her medical stuff. Juuzou was going to be fine), but because of the guilt that consumed her. Juuzou's soothing words eventually calmed her.

"You good now?" Juuzou asked as Sen wiped away tears.

She nodded.

"Good," he grinned. "And don't worry about it. It's not like it's your fault or anything."

And the tears returned.

Sen spent her day sitting in the hospital with Juuzou, and they talked about everything they were going to do together when Suzuya got out of the hospital.

"When you're better," Sen sniffled. "I'm taking you to a candy shop and I'm going to buy you whatever you want."

When it was time for Sen to go, she stood up from where she was sitting next to his bed and kissed Suzuya on the forehead.

"I liked the other kiss more," Juuzou giggled.

Sen rolled her eyes and chucked. "I did too, but right now you're hurt."

"So what about when I'm not hurt anymore?" Juuzou said, giving the author a quirky smile.

Sen just smiled and him and winked. She walked into the hallway, and as soon as she was out of Suzuya's earshot, burst into tears.

That night, Eto stood in another abandoned building that was also an Aogiri base, pondering a question out loud.

"What does love feel like?" she said, the words echoing through the empty building. "What exactly is it?"

The day of the raid, Eto had told herself that she loved Juuzou, but did she really?

"Love is an intense feeling of deep affection," Eto said, reciting the dictionary definition. "But how can you tell how deep that affection is? How can you tell if you love somebody if you've never loved before?"

Eto paused.

"Have I ever loved before?"

Eto spun around, twirling her magenta dress. She examined her bandaged hands. She wanted to ask someone what love was, but who? Tatara? No, he wouldn't understand. Noro? No, not him either.

"I love my mother, and I never even met her," Eto said thoughtfully. "I care about my step father, but do I love him?"

She looked down at her feet.

"His white hair, red eyes… Do I love Juu-."

"Are you okay?" someone suddenly asked, interpreting Eto's monologue.

She spun around to see a tall man in a white suit standing on the opposite side of the room. The middle section of his blond hair was combed back. His red eyes were brought out by his dark eyeshadow.

"Naki," Eto said, relieved it wasn't anybody all that important.

"Why are you talking to yourself about love?" he asked, cocking his head.

For some reason, Eto made the split second decision to trust Naki. "I'm trying to figure out if I love somebody or not," she admitted.

"Who?" Naki asked, eyes widening.

"Doesn't matter," Eto said, beckoning him with her hand as she went to go look for a place where they could sit and talk.

"Is it Tatara?" Naki gasped as he ran to catch up with her.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh," Naki frowned. "I mean I thought you were talking about him. You said white hair and red eyes."

"It's not him."

Eto sat down on a piece of ceiling that had fallen, and Naki sat down beside her.

"Is it eyepatch?"

"No."

"What about Ayato?"

"Definitely not."

"Well then who is it?"

"It doesn't matter," Eto said. She was quiet for a few moments. "Have you ever loved anybody?"

"I didn't know my parents. My big bro looked after me. I love boss."

"Like want to kiss him love?"

"No, not like that," Naki said, wrinkling his nose.

"Like do you think anybody's pretty so you want to kiss them?" Eto asked, feeling like her love conversation with Naki was going down the drain.

"I have some very pretty servants," Naki said thoughtfully. "Especially servant thirteen. But I don't care about her though."

"Then I guess I'm stuck," Eto sighed.

"Well, what do you feel about him?" Naki asked, fiddling with an earring.

"Well," Eto paused. "When I see things that make me happy, I think about how happy it would make him. I feel really happy and comfortable with him. I never get tired of his company. And all I want is for him to be happy."

Naki just stared at her.

"Have you kissed him?"

Eto was thankful for her bandages so that Naki could not see how hard she was blushing. "Yes."

"Are you going to have a baby?" Naki asked.

"No."

Naki was quiet for a moment. "Well maybe you do love him."

"Perhaps."

Naki stood up and began to walk away. Just as he was about to walk out of the room and into a hallway, he looked back at Eto.

"If you do love him, don't wait to long," he said softly. "You may be the one eyed owl, but that doesn't make you invincible. And I don't know who he is, but I can tell you he's not invincible either. Because if he really is the one for you, and something happens to him, he'll never be able to be replaced."


	11. Are we dating?

"Sen," Juuzou said, looking at the green and blue gummy worm he was holding. He had been released from the hospital that morning, and just as Sen promised, she had taken him to a candy shop and bought him whatever he wanted. He tried to enjoy the mountains of sweets in front of him, but there was a question that kept bouncing around in his mind. Sen was sipping an iced coffee. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she wore a yellow turtleneck and a navy blue dress. "Are we dating?"

Her green eyes widened in shock of Juuzou's sudden question, and then a thoughtful look crossed her face. "I don't know," she finally said. "Do you want to?"

"Yeah," Juuzou said, blushing. "Well, I mean I think so."

"You think so?" Sen asked, cocking her head.

"Well, I've never really dated anyone before," Suzuya muttered, embarrassed.

"Neither have I."

Juuzou looked at her, shocked. This beautiful woman had never dated anybody?

"Do you want to date me?" he asked uncomfortably.

Sen stirred her coffee. "Yes," she finally said.

"Really?" Juuzou said, smiling and blushing. "Why?"

She paused. What could she say? "I have strong romantic feelings towards you," Sen said finally.

A blush spread across Juuzou's face. "Well I was-," he stammered, fiddling with a gummy worm. "I was wondering if you love me."

Sen's heart began to beat rapidly. Naki's words ran through her head.

If you do love him, don't wait to long. You may be the one eyed owl, but that doesn't make you invincible. And I don't know who he is, but I can tell you he's not invincible either. Because if he really is the one for you, and something happens to him, he'll never be able to be replaced.

She swallowed. It was now or never. "Yes," Sen said softly. "I love you Juuzou," she paused. "Do you love me?"

Juuzou was silent for a moment. He had never really loved before, but he was sure this is what it felt like. "I love you too."

Sen couldn't help but smile. It felt like she had been waiting her entire life to hear those words. Sure, she had only known Juuzou for a month but, she knew that he really meant it.

"Sen," Juuzou said, repeating himself. "Are we dating?"

Sen smiled at him, all of her feeling warm and happy. "Yes, I suppose so."

Juuzou smiled. He closed his candy bag and stood up. "Do you wanna go on a walk in the park?"

"Sure," Sen beamed.

The candy shop's bell jingled as they walked out the door. The park wasn't far. In fact, it was right across the street. Being January, it was still chilly out.

"So," Sen said as they walked through the park. "Are you going to um-," she hesitated. "Tell people?"

"About what?"

"Us."

"Oh," Juuzou said. "Um, I didn't really plan on it. Why?"

"Publicity reasons," Sen lied. "I don't want the press and stuff all up in my business."

"I sometimes forget you're famous," Juuzou laughed. "But I wasn't going to either. The people at my work wouldn't leave me alone about it, and you can only imagine what Kiniko would be like."

"So it's our secret," Sen said, giving her boyfriend a flirty smile.

"For now," Juuzou said, blushing.

"Yes, for now."

Juuzou swung his arms as they walked along, and he accidentally touched her hand.

"Sorry," he said.

"Don't be," Sen whispered, taking his hand in hers.

Nobody paid any mind to the couple holding hands walking through the park. Nobody except the person who watched them from across the street with blood red eyes hooded by eyelids smeared with cheap gray eyeshadow.


	12. One Month

Eto sat once again in an abandoned building, skipping around. She honestly had nothing to do, and Juuzou was at work. They had been dating for a month now, and things had been going good. They were going out to dinner tonight. Good in the manor that they would be spending time together, bad in the way that Eto would have to go throw up whatever she ate right afterwards. He was so sweet. A little psychotic, but sweet. Much like herself.

"Eto," a male voice said.

She spun around to face him. "Naki, haven't you learned not to sneak up on people?"

He said nothing and walked over to her scowling. "Do you care about the CCG?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Of course not," Eto laughed, going back to spinning.

"Then why did I see you kissing an dove at the park a week or so ago?"

Eto stopped spinning. She faced him, tense. How dare this man spy on her. How dare he get involved in her life. How dare he confront her.

Her hands turned to claws and her bandaged faced turned to a monster and she assumed full form.

"How dare you say that to me," she whispered, bringing her face so closed to Naki's that she could see the sparkles of unshed tears in his eyes. His lip trembled.

"I saw you!" he shouted, bursting into tears. "Kissing that Suzuya investigator!"

She roared and hit Naki as hard as she could. He soared through the air and crashed through a concrete wall. He held his side and cried louder.

"How dare you," she said, voice low.

"Please don't hurt me anymore," he sobbed. "I won't tell! I just- I just-."

"You just thought it was ok to look into my personal affairs!" Eto roared, raising her clawed hand to hit him again.

"Please!" Naki screamed, tears streaming down his face. He gripped his side and coughed. "I just was confused. Is that the man you love?"

"That's none of your business!" the one eyed ghoul howled, and she threw Naki across the room like a rag doll.

"I'm just trying to help!" he whimpered, gritting his teeth in an attempt bear the pain. "I ask questions you don't!"

Eto wrapped her claws around him and picked him up and held him at her eye level. He cried some more, feet kicking in the air.

"What do you see that I don't?" she hissed.

"Wh- what happens when he," Naki coughed. "Finds out."

Eto was silent for a moment, heart rate increasing by the second.

"I don't know!" she roared in his face, and then dropped him twelve feet onto the concrete below. He sobbed and pulled himself to his feet, his wounds healing. "I don't know," Eto said again, this time soft. The owl began to glow and her full form disentigrated, leaving a bandaged ghoul in a magenta dress. The bandages around her face had unraveled, and she covered her face with her hands, attempting to hide her tears from Naki. "I don't know," she whispered.

Naki stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Eto cried hard; not even his warm embrace could heal the cold pang of what she knew was to come.

"It will be ok," Naki said, holding her tight. "If he really loves you, the dove will understand."

She buried her face his his white suit and sniffled, repeating the only words that seemed to fit the situation. "I don't know."

That night at dinner, Sen lazily swirled her water with her straw. She looked at the ice, bobbing around, clueless that it was melting and would soon be gone.

"Are you okay?" Juuzou asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Just tired," Sen lied, forcing a smile.

"Are you not hungry?" he asked, pointing to her untouched food.

"I'm really stressed, and when I get stressed I don't eat," she lied again.

"What's stressing you out?"

"Things with my stepfather, the book I'm working on," she lied for the third time. All I do is lie, she thought to herself, gut wrenching.

"If you're tired, let's just go back to my place," Juuzou said, placing his hand on hers.

"Alright," Sen said, smiling a little. She loved her boyfriend's cozy little apartment.

They caught a cab and they were soon walking through the door into Suzuya's place.

"I can put on a movie," he said, gesturing to the new TV that was sitting facing his bed.

"Alright," Sen yawned, laying down in Juuzou's bed. It was cold, so she pulled the blankets up to her chin.

He put on an older film and then crawled in next to her. She laid her head on his chest, and he wrapped his stitched arm around her. Sen tried to stay awake to watch what he had put on, but with steady rise and fall of his chest, her heavy eyelids soon closed for the night.

Juuzou stroked his girlfriends hair, feeling so lucky. Two months ago he never would have been able to imagine that he would love someone. Or that they would love him back for that matter. And yet here he was, with a beautiful (not to mention famous) girlfriend sleeping right next to him. It was perfect. He loved her and she loved him. There was nothing complicated about it. There was just a tiny bit of bickering now and then, but it was always over little things and resolved quickly. They enjoyed a lot of the same things. However, Juuzou couldn't help but be disappointed that she didn't share his intense love for sweets. He still knew next to nothing about her family, but that was alright. All that she had wanted to share was that they had all been killed by ghouls.

Ghouls. That changed his thought process to work. Kiniko and himself seemed to be getting nowhere with Aogiri. The owl often crossed his mind, and how it had been identified as the bandaged ghoul. He remembered that fight, how helpless he had been. And yet, the owl didn't kill him. It would have been easy, but she didn't. She's making me suffer, he thought.

He tried not to think about the notorious one eyed ghoul and decided to try to think about other work things. Kiniko was annoying as ever. Akira had been promoted and was no longer Amon's subordinate. They had publicly announced themselves as a couple the next day. Juuzou chuckled a little bit at that, and Sen stirred in her sleep. Juuzou smiled and leaned his head back, and soon he was too fast asleep.


	13. Morning Make Out

Eto lay in Juuzou's bed as he prepared for work. She sighed. They had been dating for four months, and she had only spent the night as his apartment three times. The times she had stayed over they had just fell asleep next to each other. As the half ghoul watched her boyfriend undress, she couldn't help but feel herself wanting more. She stared at the pattern of stitches that swirled up his arm. She locked her eyes on the stitches on his throat and followed them downwards, to where they ended just below his belly button. How she would love to trace those stitches with her finger.

No, she told herself. She knew that if something went awry and she ended up pregnant, that that would be disastrous. The baby would be born because it would have the nutrition it needed from the flesh Eto ate, but how ghoul would that baby be? It would only be a quarter ghoul. It would probably possess all sorts of oddities.

Naki had expressed his concerns several more times, but the One eyed Owl had no intentions of heeding any warnings the blond ghoul gave her. She was convinced Juuzou would not find out. She sighed again, this time in disappointment that Suzuya had all his clothes on.

He must've picked up on it, for he shot his girlfriend a sly look.

Juuzou walked into the bathroom to make sure his red hairpins were in place. He looked in the reflection of the mirror at Sen, who was rolling around half naked in his bed. He sighed. She was so beautiful. He really truly loved this woman. He loved everything about her; her obsession with coffee, the teal bangs that were always falling in her beautiful green eyes, the way she could twirl a pen around, the cute kisses she would give him on the cheek when he wasn't looking, the sweet taste of her lips, her small hands in his, the cute outfits she would wear, the way she talked with her hands… It was all so perfect. She had stayed over a couple times before, and each time the temptation to do something more increased. However, Suzuya wasn't sure how she felt about it. He had caught her staring at him while changing, and the thought of that made his face flush. However, he didn't want to do anything at the same time. He was only nineteen. He would turn twenty in exactly a month; on June eighth. If something were to happen and a child was to be conceived, he would at least would want to be living with Sen, preferably in a bigger apartment. And married. Or engaged. Money wasn't an issue, he made quite a handsome amount at work.

Work. Juuzou dreaded to think about it. It used to be his only love, but now that meant saying goodbye to Sen each day. Not only that, but thinks at his job had been going miserable. Kiniko was not getting any easier to work with. Amon and Akira always sided with each other now that they were dating. And it was quite annoying. Not only were the people an issue, but the work itself was too.

Suzuya had his heart set on avenging Shinohara. And the only way to do that was to slay the One Eyed Owl. The bandaged ghoul. However, there was absolutely zero leads on finding the location and the human alias of the powerful ghoul. Juuzou had mentioned the Owl to Sen a couple times, but each time she would start crying. He was eventually able to fish out of her that her mother had been killed in something having to do with the original Owl, and her biological father had been killed by the One Eyed Owl. This only fueled Juuzou's hate and motive more. But having no leads was frustrating.

Maybe Suzuya would feel better if things had been going better in the Aogiri tree investigation. Well, they were going just as bad as the owl investigation. Every time there was to be a raid, Aogiri was always prepared. The ghoul organization was always one step ahead of the CCG, and Juuzou couldn't figure out why. He used to not mind going on raids, but now, it was much harder. He would always tell Sen that he was going on a raid, and she would always start crying. He would have to calm her, and it wrenched his heart to see her like that. Those times before a raid, those were the only times they ever told each other that they loved each other.

Suzuya came out of the bathroom, grabbed his quinque case, and kissed Sen goodbye. Juuzou was walked out his apartment door when Sen called him.

"Juuzou!"

"Yes?" he said, smiling. She was still sprawled out in his bed. She had a thoughtful look on her face, kind of sad looking in a way.

"I love you."

Suzuya's heart beat a little faster, and he smiled. "I love you too." He looked at the clock, and Sen seemed to read his mind.

"You still have five minutes," Sen said, giving him a flirty look as she twirled a stray piece of hair.

"So I do," he said, stepping back inside the apartment. He put down his briefcase and walked over to Sen, who was now sitting up on the bed. "Why did you point that out?"

Sen didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed him by his suspenders and pulled him down into a kiss. It was soft touches as first, but it soon deepened and Juuzou laid on top of her as they made out in his bed.

"Five minutes is up," Sen murmured through the kiss after awhile.

"So it is," Suzuya said as he pulled away, a strand of spit connecting their mouths.

Sen wiped it away and sat up.

"More later?" Juuzou asked, giving her puppy dog eyes as he picked up his quinque case.

Sen shook her head. "I have a meeting."

Suzuya frowned and walked toward the door. He opened it and before he walked out, looked back at his girlfriend.

"To bad," he said, winking.


End file.
